Kill Devil Hills

Article written by
Hattie N - May 11, 2005

With a name like Kill Devil Hills, this demo should by rights be some gruesome Slipknot-styly goth rock horror show with the “singer” screaming unintelligibly about something to do with killing a lot of puppies. Thankfully, this is slightly better than that, but then so is most music. Kill Devil Hills are actually (random fact fans) named after the hill near which the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight way back in 1903. Wow.

Aviation history lesson over, this band are unlikely to make quite as big an impact on human life as old Orville and Wilbur Wright. In fact, they are unlikely to make much impact at all. Track 1 “Autograph” is very nice and all, but practically anyone can produce a boppy little indie-rock tune if they want to. The vocal tries to be cynical and sinister, à la bands like The Departure and Editors, though has none of their art-rock cleverness or sensibility. “Shoestring”, meanwhile, is 70s retro garage-rock, which has a go at the whole quiet verse/loud chorus thing, but just ends up being a little bit dull. They’re “living on a shoestring” apparently, which is hardly surprising given the quality of this demo.

Suggestions to remedy Kill Devil Hills’ cash flow problems? Either write something a bit more exciting, or get a proper job. Maybe in aviation?